Monday, November 21, 2005

The End of HifromSeoul

The convergence of several strands of my life right now has made me decide to finish HifromSeoul. This blog was a labor of love for me, and I'm proud of most of it. There were a few times when I probably used language that I would now avoid for professional reasons. I've also certainly grown up over the past year. On the other hand, I can't think of any other bloggers who've compiled a list of such interesting historical and cultural places--almost all photoblogged--as I have in my "Best of HifromSeoul" page. I'm proud of having been the first foreigner, apparently, to post pictures of the museum that was once the home of South Korea's first president. Few, if any foreigners, have written as lovingly as I have of Gyeonbokgung, Doseonsa, the Gwanghwamun intersection, or any of the other many interesting places in this marvelous sea of humanity that I have photographed and listed on my "BestofHifromSeoul" page. I am pleased and honored to see that, for example, when people google "Myongdong Cathedral," or the "Kansong Art Museum," my blog comes up. I suspect that the fact that Blogger is owned by Google probably helps things out, of course.

So, HifromSeoul is finished, but the constants remain: the love and support of my family and friends, their interest in me, and my interest in Seoul, South Korea. And there are more of both friends and family, too, now, than there were a year ago. That being said, the older I grow the more old friends mean to me, even if they always meant a lot.

And I have not forgotten them. Those who wish may keep in touch with me by reading my new blog. In fact, I suggest they start right here, with the first post, entitled New Beginnings.

I am not going to delete this blog, nor will I move it to the new site, which I am paying for. In the not-so-distant future, the little people who used free webspace on companies like Google will still be read, perhaps, while those who paid for their domain names may be forgotten with the expiration of their URL's. Who knows, if Blogger decided to offer some of the features that Wordpress does, like the popular categories feature, perhaps I'll move back to Blogger again. Of course, I will continue to run my main site, nathanbauman.com.

Good-bye, and thank you all for reading, commenting, and encouraging me. I hope to you at the new blog!